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Ura Blackstone
Lady of Shadows and leader of the infamous Shadow Hall, this pirate captain is no less infamous herself. She has formed close friendships with many of her guildmates, among them can be found members of her crew, such as Lawfer the "`And choppa", her adoptive daughter Poison Thorne-Ladimore, and her lover and betrothed Loraquin "Wulffsbane" Valorin. Among her Shadows are also a number of people Ura favors for their usefulness, such as the connections of High Priestess Zylia Vale, or the varied services of the fire dancer Saija. =Character Description= Ura has often been compared to a Vrykul, but she is nothing more than a very large human. Heavily tanned and weathered, Ura isn't the sort of woman men hope to bring home to mother. Built like a wall, and covered in tattoos the woman seems to care very little for her physical appearance. She stands over seven feet in height, and easily weighs over 200 pounds. While she is very muscled, made obvious by the heavy platemail and massive two-handed weapons she carries like toys, a comfortable layer of fat rests on her bones. She's not obese, but not the prettiest maiden either. She isn't terribly shapely, but hints of a figure are there, when not covered by armor. Her broad shoulders give way to a narrow face that seems unremarkable, considering the body it accompanies. However, on her left cheek, an ugly keyhole-shaped brand ruins any hint of beauty she might have possessed. A jagged scar runs from her right eyebrow, down through her right eye and ending just on the jawline of her face. This is usually primarily covered by an eyepatch. If her lips were to be pulled back, it would be exposed that her teeth have been filed to points. A scar runs through the center of her lower lip, jutting to the right and ending just above her chin. Her ears are pierced multiple times, gold hoops dangling from her lobes, with a train of earrings running up each ear, including a hunk of black rock in both ears. Her left hand is missing it's pinky finger, and the entire left arm and shoulder are heavily scarred, as though the skin had been melted at one point. This woman has, obviously, taken a beating and come back for more. Her hair is white-blonde, streaked with grey. Usually it's kept up in a messy bun more for practicality than formality. Her eyes are gray, and her nose crooked. It's been broken several times. All in all, she's anything but an attractive woman. And then she opens her mouth. Whatever spews from Ura's mouth can barely be called words, so mauled by her atrocious accent that anyone not paying close attention to what she's saying can often find themselves horribly confused. And that's if she isn't busy smoking a cigar or guzzling down some form of alcohol. Ura is covered in tattoos, taking the art to an extreme in some cases. On her left arm, she has the sea depicted with two ships, a sailing ship and one of the paddle-driven ones that are so popular in Northrend. On the wrist of the same arm, a black diamond is tattooed on the underside. On her right arm she has a compass rose made up of four birds, and a black keyhole on the underside of her right wrist. What looks like a mast at full sail is on the top of her right forearm. In the hollow of her throat, a small heart is tattooed. And, possible the most obvious of all her tattoos, is the large Alliance shield on the back of her neck. One the left side of her neck is a ship's wheel, and on the right is three seahorses. On the back of her right shoulder clings a starfish. On her left shoulder, a crossed sword and axe. On the left side of her ribs, is a beer-keg, with the initials LV burnt into the wood. A skull and crossed swords dominates her lower back. On her chest, she has a snowflake above her heart, and an arrow-pierced heart on her right side. A mermaid rests on her right hip, and a large anchor claims her stomach and left hip. Ivy entwined with a rose runs up her right leg, and a panther circles her left ankle. On her left thigh is a dolphin (Or maybe a shark) doing something obscene with a sea monster. Barnacles cover her butt. In or out of armor, she carries a menagerie of junk on her belt. A ribbon covered with rings, trinket and odds and ends, a bowl, mug, set of wooden eating utensils, a small ring of keys, a stick wrapped in leather that looks like it's been bitten several times, a small keg, a hard leather pouch containing cigars, various pouches, and a vial containing a forsaken's eye and finger. No doubt there are other oddities stashed in the various pouches or beneath the belt itself to keep Ura entertained, intoxicated or otherwise aid her in some way. She is rarely seen without her guild tabard, and is overly fond of what she calls her 'blacks and whites.' Character Biography Ura was born to Baron Malachai Blackstone and his wife Ophelia. Until the age of 8 she was instructed in dancing, writing, reading and the various arts of nobility. She was bethrothed, but never met her future husband. On a warm spring night pirates attacked the Blackstone manor and the surrounding villages. Valuables were stolen from the manor as well as the baron's young child. Ura was taken aboard The Siren in hopes of ransoming her off for even more money but a storm just offshore caused the ship to become lost and the crew failed to find the manor in it's rocky harbor again. Ura was quickly taken into the hearts of the crew and, being big and strong even then, quickly learned the way of the seafaring man. She quickly gained the respect of the crew. She pulled her own weight around the ship and over the years, whispers of mutiny flew over the ship. After the former captain was marooned, Ura was elected the new captain of The Siren. (For a pirate she is very charismatic.) She took the position eagerly. Most of Ura's history of pirating is unimportant, involving the usual scandals pirates face, as well as the additional hardships Ura faced simply because she was, much to her annoyance, a woman. Many men's skulls dangle from her Siren, solely because they voiced their opinion on women at sea. Ura never has been the sort to hear that she cannot do something solely because she is a woman and has been known to deny her gender. She'll admit to having had two children, neither of which survived bith, but the events hold no special place in her heart, and she generally shrugs off mention of them. For fifteen years Ura captained the Siren and one day they put into port to have their hull cleaned and sell off some of their ill-gotten gains. It was there that the ship was siezed for "Uncontracted removal of goods" and "intentional endangering of lawful citizens." Guards attempted to seize Ura and her crew but they fought back and retreated. Soon after the crew decided that it was time to put into port for good. Ura called them all several foul names but in the end bade them a fond farewell, kissed each of them on the cheek and gave them a bit of jewelry to remember her by. She then set out on her own for the first time without a crew or ship. Nearly a year later she met Nyrix Deathblade and worked with him to learn of Azeroth by land. She was the first member of The Shadow Hall and quickly gave herself the task of recruitment. He, somehow, gained control of Ura's Siren and gifted it to her in thanks for her work with the Hall. While establishing the Hall Ura met the young Poison Thorne-Ladimore and the two quickly developed a mother-daughter relationship that was finalized when Ura formally adopted the girl as her own. The relationship between Ura and Nyrix was rocky, and eventually ended with Ura bludgeoning the man to death with a wagon axle before claiming leadership of the Hall and holding it to this day. Nyrix hadn't been very well liked, and under Ura's leadership the Hall flourished. It continues to do so to this day, and Ura and the Hall's history are so entwined that it is nearly impossible to mention one without the other. =Titles and Nicknames= Ura goes by many different titles, probably in an attempt to throw the authorities off her trail. Most are easily identified as her, but this seems to only amuse her more than deter her from picking such obvious names. The Lady of Shadows The most obvious and the one with, potentially, the most political sway. This is Ura's title in the guild and while she's not overly fond of the idea of being called 'lady' it stuck after Saija repeatedly referred to her as such when referencing Ura to potential recruits. She'll openly deny being a lady, should someone else refer to her as such and not specifically the lady of shadows. Since, Ura's accepted it amongst her nicknames and has been known to throw it out there to remind lower ranking shadows who is in charge of their operation. The Mountain Ura began going by this shortly after arriving in Northrend. It was, obviously, attributed to her stature and the size of the mounts she required to properly ride. It was given to her by the soldiers stationed in Howling Fjord, as opposed to their first choice The Vry'kul for obvious reasons. She's taken to the moniker with affection and it seems to have become the name she offers those in the shadows' employ when sending potential recruits her way. The Pirate Queen This alias Ura picked up long before she became the Lady. Originally used amongst her crew as a joke, the name quickly spread after defeated ships heard her crew chanting 'Hail the Queen.' Their laughing after such an exclamation was cut out of the stories and tales of the queen of pirates quickly spread. While Ura might not be the most notable pirate in Azeroth, she hasn't disputed the title, being fond of the idea of being royalty and loving the fear that goes along with it's mention amongst seafaring men and women. =Businesses and Investments= Ura has her gold invested in a good amount of various things, some far wiser than others. The Siren and The Maiden Ura, legally, owns two ships. Both fly her colours, the black diamond on a white banner. The Siren is a typical sailing ship. It's the older of the two, and far more adorned with skulls and trophies of the crew's victories (and Ura's temper.) It's kept in good repair, but shows the scars of it's battles. Ura will quickly point out the skulls hanging from the bow and remind new crewmates that she can name everyone of the individuals they belonged to. The Maiden is the newer of the two, and is a paddle-powered ship, the sort more commonly seen in Northrend. Ura calls it her 'Ice-breaker' and it's the ship she takes when scouring the waters up north. While her Maiden bears far fewer signs of death, it doesn't mean Ura is any less violent while aboard it. Skulls of scourge and vrykul dangle about The Maiden, reminding those she encounters that Ura is just as quick to assist those fighting in Northrend. The Maiden has also been known to fly the Alliance flag instead of Ura's own banner. The Black Sail The Black Sail is a brothel that Ura won in a game of cards. She quickly changed how things were run, establishing the whores themselves as the proper managers of the business and allows them to run the Sail day to day. Ura has made it very clear (primarily to Wulff) that she won't force her girls to serve anyone for free. She's proven to be very protective of these women (and men) that are not part of the Hall, going so far as to threaten to remove vital organs from anyone that tries to harass them. =Out of Character Notes= Always in character and always eager to RP! Also one of the representatives for Alliance-side RP for Farstriders. Category:Alliance Category:Alliance Biographies